Belated Merry Christmas to you all! Hope it was a fantastic one. The last few weeks have been fairly hectic, with work going non-stop, travelling back and forth, and birthdays, christmas and weddings to attend. This is my first breather moment, and I can't post what I want up :(

There is 1 sewing FO, 1 knitting FO and about 46 viruses on this computer prior to reformatting. This also means I don't have anything installed, including a simple photo resizer, so I'm not able to post the FOs. SIGH.

Regardless, I do hope you have a great new years and a wonderful new years.

PS. I will be MIA for a short while. Will be working for 8 days, then travelling back to Perth for a weekend of partying with best buddies coming in from Melb. Have fun.

I must be on a green kick. Or variations of it. First there was Martha, then there was the Golden Vintage Cardigan, and now i've restarted Lisette in a teal green. I still have the choc brown one, but i left that in Perth and being 600kms away means I can't access those knits :(

Have you ever knit something that you've fought every step of the way? Where you keep on knitting even though you have this feeling inside you of "im not going to like it" or "i hate this.. and i hate that" but you continue to fight it regardless?

Well, that's how i feel about the Golden Vintage Cardigan. The pattern/design itself is very classic, and I do love it.

What I don't love about my knitting it is the colour of the yarn i've used, the needles that i'm using to knit it, and the inkling that I could turn out to be some horrid 80's pastel flashdance character. And yet i continue...

You see , the yarn that i'm using is titled "icy mint". It's a sort of bright pastel green (similar in colour to the one i used for my Leaf Sweater) but brighter...

The needles that I'm using are really short. I couldn't get gauge on 4.0mm or 4.5mm but i remembered that I had a pair of Clover 4.25mm in my straights vase. Perfect. Except for the fact that it is about 25cm tall... and squishing 90 stitches on there is a bit of a challenge. But i persist.

I keep thinking to myself "just stop, reknit in another colour" but something in me tells me to keep going. Maybe it's because I just want to use the stash yarn (i dont think i liked the colour from the get-go).. or maybe i keep thinking it *might* turn out okay.. whatever it is... i'm still fighting it every step of the way!

I finished this top a little while ago, but because of my hectic schedule of late, haven't had time to do a proper FO post on it.

The bubble bee top is the first item that i've conceived all by myself - usually I would look at something and go "i can make that" or "i like this, but a little bit different".. This time, I just bought the fabric and was inspired from thereon - but of course, it had to be cute! I also liked the idea of a bubble top as I love to eat (hehe) so having something that could hide my full tummy was always a good option ;)

Project details:Pattern: My own design.

Fabric: 100% cotton for all parts - yellow gingham for the yoke and white bee fabric for the main. The lining is some scrap of light white fabric that i had - maybe poplin?

Notions:

Elastic - the top was a bit bellowy rather tham bubbly at first, so my patternmaking teacher suggested putting elastic in it to keep it drawn in at both the top and the bottom.

Bee buttons - they are perfect! I found them in the button aisle one lunchtime and knew that i had to have them ;)

Would I change anything? My original design featured a zip, but the extra fabric required for this was mistakenly forgotten in the patterndrafting stage. So, it had to be elasticated instead. I still would've preferred a zip as i think it looks a bit more polished, but oh well.

Ooh i didnt even realise how long it has been since i last posted until my SO told me!! Eek. Apologies for that - i've been rather busy with being back on site, one of my good friend's weddings, my own birthday, and getting things organised between the three places i spend most of my time.

So to make up for it, here's an FO! hehe. Oh and please forgive me for not having read your own blog posts - i have 13253 unread posts in my bloglines :S

Yarn: 5 balls of Grignasco Tango in a blue/green tweedish colourway. THe yarn is very similar to Rowan Felted Tweed (which is the yarn used in the pattern recommendations) in that it is made of the same fibre compositions, but for some reason it feels a little more springy than Felted Tweed, which is somewhat delicate and quite brittle at times. The yarn was a pleasure to knit with, and at $8.40 a ball, it was a cost saving compared to Felted Tweed.

Needles : 4.0mm needles , and a cable needle.

Modifications? No modifications (i think?). You will notice however that in my FO, i am missing the top button, which is not intentional on my behalf. hehe. I actually bought 4 buttons but I was at my dad's place and misplaced one of them. I'm not in Perth at the moment so I can't go and buy a fourth button, but next time i'm there I'll definitely pick one up :p

Comments: When i finished this cardigan, i thought "ugh" thinking it was extremely granny like and absolutely not my style. However, once i put some little yellow buttons on it, it became a little more likeable. Then i paired it with some shorts and i thought "cute!". It's still not entirely wearable with my wardrobe, but at least i found something cute about it ;)

PS. Apologies for the mess in the photos - I was taking photos in the guest room, where we are getting it ready for xmas visitors.